Christmas With You
by embrace-the-deception
Summary: It's Christmas time and Sebastian and Hunter have plans. And as always, something tries to get in the way. But nothing's going to stop Sebastian having his Christmas with Hunter. Huntbastian, mostly fluffy. ONESHOT


**Yes, this Christmas oneshot is quite late but it's still 2013 so I figured I could still post it :) My first Huntbastian Christmas story and it was a real struggle at times. But it's finished now and I hope y'all like it! It's somewhat of a sequel to Kitten, and therefore Better Than Nothing, but it's not necessary to read those first. **

**A late Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and enjoy!**

* * *

The air was cold, carrying a promise of snow; conversations had turned from complaining about homework to complaining about what presents to buy; a suspicious amount of mistletoe was showing up around the school; there was a mix of both excitement and dread among the students.

There was no doubt about it. Christmas was coming.

Sebastian rolled his eyes as he walked past a group of boys, all chatting about their plans for the holiday. He had never liked Christmas – it was too silly for him, and people more so– and had he and Hunter not made their own plans, it would have been the same this year. He pushed back the smug smirk that threatened to break through as he thought about what he was going to get to do to that gorgeous boy of his. Hunter had promised Sebastian that they could do whatever he liked, as long as the other agreed to help him fulfil his usual Christmas tradition. Sebastian didn't find it too much to ask – if he got to have Hunter to himself for the better part of the day, then he'd happily sit through whatever dumb old Christmas movie he was going to be subjected to.

He reached his class just as bell rang and he was barely thinking about the schoolwork ahead of him – all he could think about was his day alone with Hunter. Almost everyone – including Hunter's roommate – was going home before Christmas but both of them had managed to convince their families to delay coming to get them. So they had more than half of Christmas Day to themselves and Sebastian was very happy with that. It hadn't taken much convincing on his behalf. In fact, if the school hadn't politely insisted they take him, Sebastian was sure his parents would have been happy to leave him there. He didn't mind. They didn't care much about him and he didn't care much about them.

He was so deep in his own world as he sat down that he didn't realise Hunter wasn't there yet. It was only when the teacher started marking off attendance that he noticed. It wasn't like Hunter to be late. He looked around the room curiously and saw his other classmates chattering quietly with each other, slipping gifts to each other under the desks. But no Hunter. Just as the teacher called out 'Clarington', the door to the classroom opened and the boy in question walked in. Sebastian frowned when he saw him. He was sickly pale, his eyes barely open from exhaustion. His hands shook and when he apologised for his tardiness, his voice was low and hoarse. Sebastian didn't take his eyes off him as the boy sat down heavily across the room and searched through his bag for what he needed. He understood why they had to sit apart – everyone else thought they hated each other's guts – but sometimes he hated it. Now he had to wait until the class was over before he could find out what was wrong.

As soon as they were dismissed, Sebastian was up out of his chair and looking for Hunter. But the boy was quicker than he'd anticipated and was out the door almost before Sebastian could move. Quickly he followed him into the hall and before the other could get too far, he grabbed his shoulder.

"What do you want, Smythe?" Hunter rasped, clearing his throat when he'd finished. Sebastian slipped easily into his public persona and replied smoothly, "You look worse than usual, Clarington. What's up with you?"

Hunter glared at him and in surprise, Sebastian realised that it was entirely real. None of the anger in his gaze was being faked. "None of your business."

"It is my business because you're the captain of the Warblers," Sebastian shot back "I'm worried we might not have someone to captain us."

Hunter rolled his eyes and sniffed, sounding stuffed up. "The Warblers aren't doing anything for weeks, Smythe. So even if there was something wrong, it wouldn't matter. Now get back to whatever it is you do and don't worry your pretty little head about me."

Sebastian smirked. "Nice to know you think I'm pretty."

With a last suffering look skyward, Hunter stalked off, but not before coughing. Sebastian didn't miss how he winced as he coughed, clearly in pain, but then he turned away and was gone. Sebastian was left in the hallway alone, wondering if Hunter really was mad at him. It was obvious that he wasn't well though, and he did actually want to know what was wrong. So he pulled out his phone and texted him.

_Are you alright or not?_

It took a few minutes for a reply to come.

_Fine._

Sebastian huffed and typed, _Are you angry? Because I didn't do anything. _

This time the answer came a little faster and Sebastian frowned in confusion.

_Just leave me alone._

But it was the second text that arrived a few seconds after that made his chest hurt and his confusion deepen even further.

_And don't come over Christmas day. _

What was going on? One minute everything was fine and they were both looking forward to spending the day together without any chance of interruption, and the next Hunter was angry and miserable and telling him to cancel everything. It didn't make any sense.

Sebastian was beginning to dislike Christmas again.

* * *

For the next few days Hunter utterly ignored him. Sebastian tried to quietly get his attention but all he got in return was the cold shoulder and dark stares. Even Jeff had started to notice and was asking him if everything was alright. It was getting to a point where Sebastian was wondering whether or not he should just corner Hunter and demand to know what was going on. He was getting desperate. If Hunter thought he'd done something wrong then A) he was wrong because Sebastian hadn't done anything and B) they needed to fix it. Fast. He was _not_ losing his day with Hunter just because the idiot had some misconception about something. Sure, he was probably still a little sick, but he couldn't possibly be bad enough for him to cease all contact entirely. It was getting ridiculous.

And then finally the infamous day came around. As Sebastian woke up that morning and yawned, he was sure the day was being celebrated with much more enthusiasm and excitement elsewhere. In his dorm, however, it was not being celebrated at all; not now that Hunter was being a miserable son of a bitch. He sat up in bed and glanced at the door, wondering what to do about the boy in question. He hadn't said a word to him since telling him to leave him alone and if he were honest, he was sick of the silent treatment. But did he want a confrontation? And if he charged in and said something wrong, as he was liable to do, he could mess everything up. That was the last thing he wanted.

"Screw this," Sebastian muttered to himself. He was going to go find Hunter and deal with this. Besides, he couldn't mess this up any more than it already had been, right? Something had clearly gone wrong and someone had to man up and fix it – which obviously wasn't going to be Hunter. In twenty minutes he'd showered and gotten dressed and sooner than he realised he was standing outside Hunter's dorm room. He let himself hesitate for only a second before he knocked loudly.

"Hunter? If you don't open the door, then I'm just going to come in," he called. There was no response. He knocked again, then raised his voice. "I'm not joking around! I'm coming in!"

He gave it a few seconds for his warning to sink in and then another round of banging on the door. Finally, when all he got was silence, his frustration took over and he grabbed the handle. It opened easily and Sebastian stormed in, already speaking.

"Hunter Clarington, you had better tell me what the hell is going… on…"

He trailed off and stopped in the middle of the room with a confused look on his face. Curled up on his bed was Hunter, almost hidden under a pile of blankets – he recognised the ruffled hair sticking out. The heap moved and the boy poked his head out properly, his face in an angry snarl. He was even paler than before and there were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

"I asked you to do _one_ thing, Smythe," Hunter said in a low voice, still hoarse and rough "And that was stay away from me. Are you incapable of reading a text?"

"Wow, you're really sick," Sebastian said, ignoring the other's harsh words in favour of worrying about the other's state "I mean, I thought you'd be over it by now, but you've just gotten worse."

"Thank you for pointing that out to me. I hadn't noticed how sick I was."

"I see it hasn't damaged your ability to be a sarcastic dick."

"Get out, Smythe."

His anger started to return as he realised Hunter was serious. "Hey, when did we go back to last names? And why didn't you tell me you were this bad? No, you know what? I'm more pissed off about you just ignoring me – what's the deal with that?"

"I didn't tell you because it was none of your business," Hunter snapped, burying himself further into the blankets "So leave it alone and get out."

"No," Sebastian shot back "Tell me why you ignored me."

"What are you, the clingy girlfriend? Just fuck off!"

Sebastian stopped, his retort stuck in his throat. So Hunter thought he was being clingy. He hadn't thought he'd been acting anything of the sort but as he looked back, he realised that he was the one who invited Hunter to his room, who asked him to hang around - Hunter barely ever spoke up. He was the one who'd given Hunter the little nickname of 'kitten' that the other seemed to absolutely hate. He was the one to start all the conversations they had. And he was the one who'd come storming in, shouting, just because Hunter hadn't talked to him for a while. Maybe things were getting out of hand.

"Fine," he finally forced out through gritted teeth "If that's the way you think. I'll go then. Excuse me for fucking worrying about you, asshole."

He turned and headed for the door, his chest hurting and his hands in fists by his sides. He just couldn't have something nice, could he? The one time he decided to settle – at least a little – with one person, and he had to go and fuck it up. That would teach him. He'd just go back to how he was before he met Hunter fucking Clarington – as Nick put it, 'whoring around'. It'd be better for everyone that way.

He'd just reached the door when he heard Hunter mutter something, muffled by the blankets. In the quiet room he picked up on it and froze.

"I didn't want you to worry about me."

Sebastian looked back and stared. "What?"

Hunter looked up at him, all the more pathetic due to his sniffing and trembling. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry about me. That's why I told you not to come over."

"You thought I'd worry about you?"

"You just said you did."

"Yeah, because you didn't tell me!" Sebastian half-shouted "I thought you were fucking mad at me!"

Hunter frowned and blinked – Sebastian anger melted just a little at how confused and vaguely cute he looked. "I'm not mad at you."

"I know that now," he sighed "I would have worried less if you'd told me. At least then I could do something about it."

Hunter sat up a little and wrapped the blankets around himself with a dazed smile. "You gonna nurse me back to health?"

The other snorted. "You're so sick you've gone delusional. What's wrong with you anyway?"

"Sore throat. Stuffed up. Headaches." Hunter shrugged "You really were worried about me?"

Sebastian made his way over to the sick boy and sat next to him on the bed. It didn't take much convincing for Hunter to lay his head in his lap and curl up around him, rearranging the blankets so he was still covered. Sebastian ran a hand through his hair absently with a sigh. "I already said that. And don't you dare ever not tell me about something like this again. Or I'll wait until you're better and then I'll punch you."

Hunter snorted. Sebastian shot him a look. "Don't think I won't."

"Okay. I'll tell you. As long as you agree not to baby me."

"Do I really look like the type of person who's going to spoon-feed you and fuss over you?" Sebastian laughed. Hunter smiled up at him and Sebastian's chest hurt for a very different reason to see that all that happiness was genuine.

They sat in silence for a while, Hunter starting to drift off with his face pressed into the other's shirt and Sebastian watching him with a slight smile. He didn't really want to admit it but he liked this. But was this being clingy? His smile faded at that and in a very quiet voice, he broke the silence. "Am I really clingy?"

Hunter blinked dazedly and looked up at him again. "What? No."

"You said I was."

"Oh, yeah. I didn't mean it. I was just being a dick."

"So you don't think I'm clingy?" Sebastian pressed. He had to be sure. Hunter, slowly, pushed himself up until he was almost sitting. Then he fell against Sebastian quite suddenly, nestling his head into his neck and wrapping an arm loosely around him. "No, I don't. I like you.

Sebastian smiled. "I like you too." And then, as an afterthought, he added, "Merry Christmas, by the way."

"You too."

"Speaking of which, didn't you want to watch some Christmas movie? I thought that was your thing."

Hunter tensed up a little as he asked, "You really want to watch it?"

"Um, I guess so." And if sitting through a dumb Christmas movie just so he could spend the day with Hunter didn't sound clingy, he didn't know what did. But Hunter gently kissed his neck and Sebastian shivered, the thought fluttering away.

"If you want me to put it on, I'd stop doing that," he warned, only half-serious. If Hunter was happy to continue peppering tiny little kisses across his neck and shoulder then he was happy to sit there and let him do it. But Hunter smirked into his skin and pulled back, dropping into a heap on the bed so Sebastian could get up. The boy rolled his eyes and pulled himself up. He spotted Hunter's laptop sitting on his desk and brought it over to the bed before he was directed to where a stack of Christmas movies was half-collapsed on the floor. He grabbed the first one that didn't look mind-numbing, then he settled back on the bed and gestured for the other to get comfortable. It took a little shifting and shuffling around, but eventually Sebastian was sat with his back against the wall and Hunter curled up between his legs, wrapped in his blankets with the computer in his lap. As it whirred into life and they waited for the movie to load, Hunter tilted his head back and looked at Sebastian with a pleased smile.

"Thanks."

"For what?" Sebastian asked, reaching over the top of him to press play.

Hunter burrowed under his blankets and rested his head on Sebastian's chest. "For watching the movie with me. I know you don't want to."

"Who are you to say I don't want to watch it?" he shot back, but he knew he deserved the roll of the eyes he got in reply. He didn't really want to watch anything. Especially not a Christmas movie. But if that's what Hunter wanted, then that's what was going to happen. And then Sebastian could have what he wanted. Not that much was going to happen today with Hunter so miserably sick.

"Just… thanks."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

As the movie progressed, Sebastian all but tuned out. He didn't pay any attention to the movie but he was entirely focused on one thing – Hunter. He felt the boy's every movement and kept his eyes fixed on the back of his head as the other chuckled at the movie, coughed and cleared his throat, rubbed at his temples. It was about halfway through that Hunter, without taking his eyes from the screen, reached out to grab Sebastian's hand and pull it to his chest. Sebastian started in surprise and almost pulled it away but he didn't. Instead he shifted his other hand closer to Hunter, wondering what he'd do. Without hesitation, the boy dragged that one to his chest as well, shuffling down a little so he was stretched out and relaxed. It wasn't long after that that Sebastian heard the familiar sound of snoring. He shook his head and smiled, peeling one hand away to turn off the movie. Then he settled down more comfortably, pulling Hunter up closer to him.

He didn't know what had gotten into him. He was never normally this affectionate. The only time they ever got close like this, cuddling up, was after he'd fucked Hunter's brains out. He knew Hunter liked this sort of thing – he'd admitted it almost shamefully the first time they'd been together – and he didn't mind. But he'd never been the type of person to snuggle up with someone on a cold day and watch stupid movies with them. And now suddenly he was and the scary thing was, he wasn't entirely sure he disliked it. It actually felt… nice.

Sebastian shook his head to clear it. He shouldn't be thinking about it. He had a long journey ahead of him when his parents came to collect him, so he decided to follow Hunter's lead and get some sleep.

It took him more time than expected however, because for the longest time he couldn't tear his eyes away from Hunter's peaceful, perfect face.

* * *

Sebastian's eyelids flickered open slowly when he woke and a warm feeling rushed over him as he gazed up at Hunter smiling above him. When he finally opened his eyes properly he realised Hunter was on his hands and knees over him and the boy was reaching down to nuzzle at his neck. Sebastian chuckled at the gentle lips on his skin and lifted his hands to rub Hunter's back. "What's with the wake up?"

"Thought you'd like it," Hunter mumbled, his voice still hoarse and rough from both sickness and sleep, and it was then that Sebastian noticed how his arms were shaking with the strain of holding himself up, felt his muscles rippling along his back as he struggled to stay in position.

"Hunt?" he asked "What's up?"

"Nothing." He sounded a little confused.

Sebastian patted the other's arms lightly. "You're sick, remember? You're shaking."

"M'fine."

"Lie down, will you?"

Hunter lifted his head and looked down at him curiously. "Bas…" He trailed off and a moment later winced in pain. Sebastian's hands were already on him and he caught the boy as he collapsed to save himself from being crushed. As gently as he could, he shoved Hunter off him and laid him on his side, rolling over to face him.

"What was that all about?"

Hunter looked away from him and coughed instead of answering. Sebastian huffed and poked his shoulder. "Hey. Talk to me. What's going on? You're sick, in case you don't remember."

"I know," the boy muttered.

"Then why were you pushing yourself?" Sebastian asked, exasperated. This was going nowhere. Sometimes he just really didn't understand Hunter at all. Particularly times like this when he was being stubborn and stupid. He wasn't really expecting an answer but Hunter mumbled something under his breath that he didn't quite catch.

"What was that?"

"I _said_," Hunter finally looked up at him "That I already told you. I thought you'd like it. Asshole."

"Since when would you do something just because I'd like it?" Sebastian scoffed, disbelieving. Hunter was just trying to cover for some other reason – he never did anything that he didn't get something out of as well. But Hunter glared at him and said, "Since you decided to do something for me because that's what I wanted."

When Sebastian frowned, the other sighed and rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you actually _wanted_ to sit through that movie. You hate Christmas, and you hate Christmas movies. You've made that abundantly clear. Which means you did it because I asked you to, so I did something for you."

Sebastian was shocked. He'd watched the movie because even though he had to waste an hour and a half of his life, he got to spend the rest of the day with Hunter's undivided attention. He hadn't exactly gotten that since the boy was sick, but the reason remained the same. But Hunter had taken it a different way and now here he was trying to return a favour that Sebastian had never actually done for him. A terrible feeling stacked up in his chest and it took him a moment to realise it was guilt. Why _didn't_ he just do things for Hunter because that was what he wanted? Why did there have to be some ulterior motive behind his actions?

_Because you're screwing each other, not going out. _

That was it. They were friends with benefits, and for the public's view, barely friends. But now, after all this information and the guilt that he was trying desperately to push back, Sebastian didn't know what to think. Was that what he wanted? Someone he could go to for a fuck and then leave? He had that already. Did he want… a relationship? Did he want to hold hands with Hunter, kiss him for no reason, do things for him just because, take him out on dates and make him happy?

The lessening of the guilt in his chest as he thought about those things answered his question for him and replaced that feeling with fear. What did he know about relationships? Hunter was the only person he'd been with more than a few times. And it wasn't as if they could go out in public anyway. Because of Hunter's parents, they had to remain a secret and that wasn't exactly the base for a great relationship. But the more he thought about it, the more the idea cemented itself in his head – the idea that in whatever form it took, he wanted Hunter.

"Hello? Is anybody home?" Hunter tapped Sebastian's head and he blinked. He acted without thinking – if he'd thought, he probably would have stopped himself – and grabbed Hunter's face, closed the small gap between them, and kissed him hard.

Hunter started at first, surprised, then relaxed into the kiss almost immediately. He reached out and ran a hand through Sebastian's hair, gripping it and pushing his head closer. It was only a minute later that Hunter suddenly tensed up and shoved Sebastian away from him.

"I'm sick, you idiot," he snapped "Now you'll be sick too."

Sebastian felt a grin creeping up on him and he didn't fight it. "I don't care."

"What are you smiling about? You're an idiot," Hunter sighed. Sebastian chuckled and pulled him back for a kiss. Hunter fought him, but when he was reminded that he'd already infected the other boy and there wasn't much more damage he could do, he accepted defeat. Their kisses were short, mostly due to the fact Hunter couldn't breathe properly, but there were dozens and dozens of them. Eventually the boy pushed him away and said he was feeling crap and needed a break. Sebastian nuzzled into Hunter's neck and murmured, "I want to do more stuff for you."

Hunter shoved his head away and said with a raised eyebrow, "Like what?"

"I don't know. Just stuff. I want to do stuff for you."

"You're being particularly nice and affectionate today. Is this just because I'm sick?" Hunter asked narrowing his eyes. Sebastian smiled and shook his head.

"No. I want to make you happy."

"Since when has my pleasure been any of your concern?"

Sebastian huffed. "Just accept it, will you? From now on, if you want something, I'll try to make it happen."

Hunter rolled his eyes and pulled the blankets over himself, tucking them around himself until only his head poked out. "Yeah, whatever."

Sebastian grabbed the blankets and burrowed under them, pressing his body against Hunter's and wrapping his arms around him. Instead of fighting it, Hunter snuggled closer and sighed. "You're being weird today. I like it."

"I'll keep doing it then," Sebastian said quietly into his shoulder. Hunter was silent for a moment, then said, "You want to do stuff for me, right? Make me happy or whatever?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Do something for me then."

"What?"

"Don't go anywhere."

Sebastian smiled. "I can promise you that one, kitten."

* * *

**Reviews would be great!**


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